New £1.6m food incubator to be built in Scotland

A new £1.6m food and drink incubator is to be built as part of the redevelopment of Inverclyde in the west of Scotland.

The contract to build Baker Street Food & Drink Enterprises was awarded to Stewart and Shields and was expected to complete by spring 2019.

Six manufacturing units ranging from 30m2​ to 70m2​ will be built at the site, aimed at enticing the growth of small and medium-sized food and drink businesses. The building will also include shared office space, storage unit and board room facilities for its tenants.

£2.5m project​

The incubator is part of £2.5m project currently being delivered by Riverside Inverclyde (RI) for Inverclyde Council and has been supported by £900,000 from the Scottish Government's Regeneration Capital Grant.

Andrew Bowman, head of business investment at RI, said the food and drink sector was a fantastic growth opportunity for Inverclyde.

“We have started to promote this pioneering facility nationally and are already seeing interest in the Baker Street hub and all of the available support for the eventual tenants,”​ said Bowman.

“The incubator offers Inverclyde some exciting opportunities, not least the ability to grow the number of food and drink producers in the area, alongside the associated jobs. We hope to see some of the early participants grow to become great success stories in their own right.”​

Business growth programme​

RI is to provide a business growth programme to support the tenants, as well as seeking match-funding support for machinery and equipment.

By assisting with the transition into Baker Street, the aim is to provide support towards achieving Safe and Local Supplier Approval standard accreditation for the units, assisting Inverclyde’s growth in the food and drink sector as Scotland aims to double its turnover to £30bn by 2030.